Sergeant Danny Nightingale is no Yardie. Nor is he a deranged loner. He is a
damaged veteran

Judge Jeff Blackett left no one in any doubt, in the case of Sergeant Danny Nightingale, about what he thought of the SAS soldier and those who supported him, including the Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and me. The most senior judge in the Armed Forces stated that Sgt Nightingale had “endangered society and for that reason your offending was serious.” While he did concede that Sgt Nightingale had no criminal intent, he cited the massacres at Dunblane and Hungerford and said the law must deal severely with those who possess prohibited firearms.

Well done, Judge Blackett! Tell ’em how it is. There is a problem, though. In Islington and Hackney, doormen and gangs are routinely armed. The locals regard guns as a necessity and the inability of the police to curb the trend tends to confirm that. The most recent stiff penalties Blackett refers to have come about because of the scale of the problem. Ask the parents of Rhys Jones, the 11-year-old lad caught in gangster crossfire in 2007. Extraordinarily, the judge instead looks to events of 17 and 26 years ago, involving lone lunatics for precedent. A quaint view indeed.

The fact is, there are real dangers to society: gangsters and nutters. Then there are transgressors who pose no threat. Still wrong, but we need to differentiate. Where is the balance in this condemnation? Nightingale is no Yardie. Nor is he a deranged loner. He is a damaged veteran who needs support and understanding, not grandstanding. The law is the law, of course; no one is above it. But our colleagues in Delta Force and Seal Team Six, with whom Danny Nightingale shared the maelstrom of Iraq and Afghanistan, are all gun-lovers and would have several guns at home, including automatic weapons with thousands of rounds of ammunition. That is their right in US law. And even if they did transgress in law, I am certain that no American judge or leading barrister would have the self-confidence to make the sort of remarks that Blackett has made about our elite forces.

I well recall, during my own brush with Army Legal Services, how I was accused of having a single AK47, taken off the battlefield in my vehicle during the liberation of Iraq in 2003. If ever there was an example of small-minded non-combatants focusing on irrelevant detail this was it. To tease them I challenged them to prove it. I then explained, on the record, that at no time did I have less than seven AK47s in my vehicle, as the rifle I was issued with did not work. That ended the matter.

What’s more, I left my AK47s in Iraq. Danny Nightingale did not. Not smart. It cost him his career and a suspended sentence, not to mention around £120,000. Danny, you knew the rules, mate. However, in a month when two soldiers died and a third is at death’s door after a SAS selection test on the Brecon Beacons on one of the hottest days of the year, one is left to ask: “Where is the leadership here?”

There has been too much focus on the SAS these past few days. We select SAS officers as the leaders of the elite. A tricky task, as I can tell you from experience. I am certain the leadership is dealing with it as I write. We need to sort this out – but out of the public gaze.

The Army’s legal system comes into the spotlight, too. The European judges are watching. They would like to take it from us. But we do need military courts, as we actually fight wars, unlike the Europeans. Still, we should eschew the limelight where we can. The two Nightingale trials have had the opposite effect.

We cannot cover up transgressions in our SAS, nor should we. But the Nightingale case could have been handled more adroitly, out of the public eye, to the same effect, while preserving the reputation of the regiment. The detractors of our military have been handed a present.

Col Tim Collins served in the Iraq war and is now chief executive of New Century, a security company